How does mowing your lawn affect home security?

By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

Did you know that a home in the United States is broken into every 15.4 seconds? 73% of these homes are broken into during the day, usually through a forced door or window entry. The vast majority of these break-ins are crimes of opportunity. A thief drives around and looks for opportunities to make a quick score.

We’ve compiled a list of things that a thief looks for, and also what you can do to help prevent being a victim.

A home with a lot of concealment
Overgrown bushes, lots of trees, junk or debris in the yard give crooks things to hide behind, away from neighbor’s prying eyes

A home with a lawn that isn’t cut
This tells them that you may be on vacation

Newspapers and mail
If they see lots of newspapers and mail, they think you are on vacation

A house with poor lighting
Darkness is the best concealment

Easy access
Open doors, windows, garage doors and unlocked gates are all opportunities for thieves

Help
If you leave your ladders or install trellises that act as ladders, the crooks will use them to access the upper floors where a homeowner or child may leave a window unlocked

Lack of security signs or cameras
If presented with a choice between a home with cameras and visible security signs and one without, they will almost always go after the softer target

Packages
This is another crime of opportunity – if the packages are left on the porch in plain site, they present an quick and easy payday for the thief

So you may ask yourself, “Self, how do I take steps to prevent a thief from targeting my home?”

Here’s a simple prevention checklist:

• Be sure to lock all doors, windows, gates and garage doors whether your home or not
  • Look into key-less door locks and put closers on gates
• Trim all bushes and trees to reduce concealment for thief’s in your yard
  • Bushes shouldn’t be over three feet tall and trees branches shouldn’t be below 7 feet in your yard. This will allow people to see anyone approaching or leaving your home
• Mow your lawn regularly, and when on vacation make arrangements for someone to do it for you
• Have a neighbor pick up mail and papers or suspend their delivery while on vacation
• Make arrangements to pick up packages at the post office, or have them delivered to work. Alternatively, you could have a lock-box on your porch for package deliveries
• Store ladders and other equipment inside your locked garage or shed
• Invest in video surveillance and an alarm system for your home. Make sure you place a yard sign letting people know that you have a security system and place stickers on doors and windows letting thieves know you’re protected